Symmetry of Neutron-InducedU235Fission at Individual Resonances. III

Abstract
The symmetry of neutron-induced fission in U235 has been measured at a large number of epithermal levels with a time-of-flight energy-resolved beam from an underground nuclear explosion. The energy resolution was improved over previous similar "wheel" experiments. The symmetry of fission, as measured radiochemically by the ratio of Cd115 to Mo99, shows a bimodal distribution. If the results are averaged separately for the two apparent groups, the first group (I) has an average Cd115/Mo99 ratio which is 0.593 times the thermal value; the second-group (II) average is 1.11 times the thermal value. The average fission width in I is one-half the average fission width in II. The numbers of levels assigned to I and II are 24 and 14, respectively. The energies of levels assigned to I are 19.30, 21.07, 22.94, 23.63, 26.44, 27.81, 30.91, 32.10, 33.55, 34.85, 40.51, 41.91, 43.41, 44.04, 45.79, 46.93, 48.06, 48.82, 51.37, 56.58, 57.83, 58.15, 60.25, and 61.10 eV; assignments to II are at 24.23, 25.65, 28.35, 34.39, 35.21, 35.75, 36.64, 38.42, 39.44, 44.75, 49.51, 52.27, 53.56, and 58.68 eV. From analogy with conclusions based on a similar set of observations in the fission of Pu239 and on arguments derived from fission-channel theory, it is hypothesized that J=4 in I and 3 in II.